The BLU R1 HD is a cheap Android phone, made even cheaper by its release as an Amazon Prime Exclusive device. You pay $50 (or $60 for the 16GB/2GB RAM version) for the phone instead of its original $100 price tag, but you get Amazon's apps pre-installed and its ads on the lockscreen. It's not that bad really: David has been trying to live with it for a month and hasn't faced many issues beside the "slowening", ie. the fact that the phone gets slower the more you use it.

If you've had an eye on this device either as your main phone or maybe as a Pokémon GO phone (hey, we understand), but you just can't bring yourself to accept Amazon's bloat, there's good news for you. XDA's active community has been tearing through its to-do list for the R1 HD and has practically nailed everything already. The phone has been rooted, bootloader unlocked, TWRP has been ported to work on it, and there are explanations for how to debloat it and install Xposed and more.

Make sure you read everything a couple of times and you know what you're doing before you start tinkering with your phone. I'm sure Amazon won't be too happy to honor any warranty on a device where you've disabled everything it had originally installed to get its money from.

But with these out of the way, the BLU R1 HD suddenly becomes a more attractive phone. You can stay updated with all its latest developments at the XDA links below.